CarolinaEast can be an island during disasters

Eddie Smyer, left, the manager of facilities services and Neil Church, the lead electrician, check gauges on one of CarolinaEast Medical Center’s four generators.

Cathryn Lindsay/Sun Journal

By Cathryn Lindsay, Sun Journal Staff

Published: Wednesday, March 5, 2014 at 08:10 PM.

Imagine a hurricane has hit the New Bern area, producing tornados, damaging winds, power outages and flooding. The last thing anyone wants to worry about is a loved one who is hospitalized or being unable to seek medical attention.

The team at CarolinaEast Medical Center tries to have every base covered, every situation planned for and can remain open despite any disaster.

If disaster were to strike, CarolinaEast goes in to “island mode” explained Megan McGarvey, the hospital’s director of public relations. At any time the hospital is prepared to be independently powered, its patients fed, hydrated and kept medicated for at least 96 hours.

To keep the power running, the hospital is equipped with four diesel-fueled generators that are programed to switch on as soon as power goes out, explained Neil Church, the lead electrician for CarolinaEast. The generators are able to keep the hospital running at 100 percent for five days, or at 50 percent for 10 days, if needed. And to make sure the generators have plenty of fuel nearby, a mistake other hospitals have made in the past, CarolinaEast keeps 41,000 gallons of fuel on site, and has a tanker truck with 7,700 gallons on standby.

“Within 10 seconds of the power going out, the whole hospital will be at full strength,” Church said. “People may only notice a small blink. (The generators) are able to provide enough power for 147 homes.”

The hospital’s generators not only provide for them in case of emergency, but also assist the City of New Bern electric utility by pulling the hospitals usage off of the cities’ and giving them the extra capacity to serve the community, explained Leslie Allen, the vice president facilities and safety. For example, during the recent winter weather, the hospital was able to use the generators to help reduce the load on New Bern’s electricity, as the hospital is one of the cities’ largest power consumers.

To make sure there are no complications at a critical time, the facilities maintenance staff performs weekly preventative maintenance on the generators, running them for 40 minutes per month and having them completely serviced annually.

Imagine a hurricane has hit the New Bern area, producing tornados, damaging winds, power outages and flooding. The last thing anyone wants to worry about is a loved one who is hospitalized or being unable to seek medical attention.

The team at CarolinaEast Medical Center tries to have every base covered, every situation planned for and can remain open despite any disaster.

If disaster were to strike, CarolinaEast goes in to “island mode” explained Megan McGarvey, the hospital’s director of public relations. At any time the hospital is prepared to be independently powered, its patients fed, hydrated and kept medicated for at least 96 hours.

To keep the power running, the hospital is equipped with four diesel-fueled generators that are programed to switch on as soon as power goes out, explained Neil Church, the lead electrician for CarolinaEast. The generators are able to keep the hospital running at 100 percent for five days, or at 50 percent for 10 days, if needed. And to make sure the generators have plenty of fuel nearby, a mistake other hospitals have made in the past, CarolinaEast keeps 41,000 gallons of fuel on site, and has a tanker truck with 7,700 gallons on standby.

“Within 10 seconds of the power going out, the whole hospital will be at full strength,” Church said. “People may only notice a small blink. (The generators) are able to provide enough power for 147 homes.”

The hospital’s generators not only provide for them in case of emergency, but also assist the City of New Bern electric utility by pulling the hospitals usage off of the cities’ and giving them the extra capacity to serve the community, explained Leslie Allen, the vice president facilities and safety. For example, during the recent winter weather, the hospital was able to use the generators to help reduce the load on New Bern’s electricity, as the hospital is one of the cities’ largest power consumers.

To make sure there are no complications at a critical time, the facilities maintenance staff performs weekly preventative maintenance on the generators, running them for 40 minutes per month and having them completely serviced annually.

Although the hospital has had to switch to generator power a few times since its beginning, such as during Hurricane Bonnie in 1998 and the tornados in 2011, it can claim the distinction of never having to close in its more than 50 years of operation.

The hospital must maintain at least a four-day supply of food and water at all times, and since electricity will keep refrigeration going, it should not be an issues, according to McGarvey. If the hospital is unable to get clean water, they have contracts to bring in trucks of water, and if ever in dire straits, they could use the well on site.

If the hospital knew of an impending disaster, staff would begin to prepare by stockpiling food, water, medication and clean linens, explained Allen. The hospital would go into island mode before the power went out.

During the disaster, all of the hospital’s staff would be called in and need to be prepared to stay at the hospital for as long as needed, Allen explained. The hospital is equipped with 100 cots and would create living spaces for the staff.

All of the staff at CarolinaEast are required to go through disaster preparedness training as part of their orientation, and there are disaster simulation drills held at least twice a year, explained Tom Cuthrell, the hospital’s safety officer.

The internal components are not the only part of the hospital ready for anything. The hospital’s preparedness goes all the way down to the bricks and mortar.

The hospital uses a “defend in place” strategy when it comes to potential disasters, Allen explained. All of the walls are made of cement and steel, and the hospital has fire doors. If a section of the hospital is on fire or there is a hazardous condition like a gas leak, the patients are evacuated … and the area is sectioned off.

Before the fire department arrives, which is only about three or four minutes, the crew from maintenance is trained to respond and will be there to squelch the situation, Allen explained.

The windows of the hospital can withstand winds of 130 mph, and if directly hit by a flying projectile, the windows are made to be shatterproof. The roof of the hospital is also built to withstand winds of 130 mph without being lifted, according to Eddie Smyer, the manager of facilities services.

The roof was improved after Hurricane Irene, Smyer explained.

The team at CarolinaEast is always looking at other hospital’s response during catastrophe as a learning tool to improve on their own preparedness, and they are always upgrading, according to Church.

“We never want to be a lesson for anyone else,” McGarvey said.

“No matter what, the hospital is going to stand and do well,” Allen said. “We prepare for the worst and hope for the best.”

Cathryn Lindsay can be reached at 252-635-5671 or cathryn.lindsay@newbernsj.com.